"When the federal government sees a community that comes together to build the partnerships with, then we want to prioritize federal funding to those communities," USDA's Sam Rikker said at a meeting in Fort Myers.

The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council made the announcement along with USDA and other federal and local agencies and non-profits. The project aims to improve job opportunities and education while fighting back against human trafficking.

The "Promise Zone" designation does not come with any dollars but it makes it much more likely projects in those areas will receive future federal funding, according to the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. Grant applications to the federal government from those areas will now receive priority treatment.

Local officials in the "Promise Zone" area saw Hendry, Glades and Immokalee as an obvious choice for the designation. According to the council, that combined area has an unemployment rate of 15.2 percent and a poverty rate of 31.2 percent.